Percy Jackson: On the Strangest of Tides
by flyingcrowbar
Summary: Captain Chase brings a stranded boy aboard her ship. Is he a spy for the Argo II, the enemy ship that's been chasing them since the start? Or is he something more?
1. Chapter 1

Inspired by Viria's lovely pirate AU fanart.

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"Man overboard!" one of her men shouted.

Captain Chase turned from her post at the quarterdeck. Overboard? The seas were calm, the skies clear... Why would anyone possibly be off ship?

She pressed herself against the railing and lo, there he was. Draped over a broken foremast that floated in the surf was a boy who was not much older than she. A tattered sail fanned out beneath him like a ghostly hand holding him aloft. From the way his clothes barely hung from his tanned frame, he had been floating for a day at least. He appeared to be unconscious, and he definitely was not a part of her crew.

Her men grew restless and began calling their concerns and she knew they had every right to be worried. Was this the work of the _Argo II_? That ship had been tracking them for weeks. Its captain, Valdez, had been clever in his tactics, but Chase was cleverer and she knew it. Yet somehow he would always appear, almost out of nowhere, emerging from surprise storms like a monster. But this was unlike him. If he was resorting to destroying other ships, he was getting anxious and impatient.

She could have easily let the drifter go; he was never her problem to begin with. He must've been long gone. He was just another soul claimed by the sea. That was, until she saw the boy in the water was breathing.

"Bring him aboard!" she barked.

In a matter of minutes, he was lugged over the side of the ship and dropped on his belly on the warm deck. He was sopping wet and smelled like seaweed. Chase stepped toward him while her crew spread out to give them room. The boy must have heard her boots because he stirred and opened sea-green eyes. For being on the ocean for what appeared to be a long time, he looked relatively healthy.

"What happened?" Chase asked, skipping formalities. She stared down at him from beneath her wide-brimmed hat, using her gray gaze to be the first line of intimidation.

The boy groaned and pushed himself into a seated position. Up close, Chase noticed that he was handsome. Sharp jaw, broad shoulders, and a mess of dark hair - he didn't look the type to be called to the seas. He regarded her through squinted eyes and looked her up and down.

Chase stood taller.

He smirked, "A glass of water would be great, thank you."

"Why were you drifting on that mast?"

"Because I thought it would be fun."

"I saved your life. Now answer my questions."

"Real hospitable getup you've got here. It's nice. I've always wanted to be interrogated first thing in the morning."

Chase reddened. She did not like to be mocked, especially in front of her men. She instinctively tightened her grip on the knife at her side, her leather gloves squeaked against the hilt. The boy noticed it and decided to start playing nice.

"Call me Jackson. Percy."

"You can address me as Captain Chase. This is my ship, the _Architect_. Now, tell me why you were stranded and I won't return you to that state."

Jackson rose to his feet and wavered as if he were getting used to the action. He brushed a hand through his hair, removing the wet strands that stuck to his forehead and looked out over the water. "Never thought I'd end up like this..."

What was he talking about? The captain pressed, "Was it the _Argo II_?"

"The what? No. Never heard of it. I'm just a fisherman, you know - with fish."

Chase pursed her lips, silently urging him to continue. This boy was getting on her nerves more and more by the minute.

"The ship name that attacked me... I think it was _Backbiter_."

The word rang in her ears, almost as if it had physically left a mark on impact. She barely heard what he said next. That ship was impossible. He must have been misunderstood. But it couldn't be real.

"It was this big, big gold ship with gold sails, blew mine sky high. Tried to put out the fires, but it was too far gone. I think I knocked my head on something because I don't really remember much after that. Then you came along."

"You're lying," Chase hissed. "Why would _Backbiter_ target you?"

"Beats me. Maybe 'cuz I'm so pretty."

The captain puffed up her chest and bristled. Jackson seemed to know he was hitting a nerve.

"Look, I'm totally grateful that you pulled me out and 'saved my life' but I could really use something to drink and some food. Is that so much to ask?"

Captain Chase settled. It seemed like this stranger was telling the truth. It didn't sound like he had any negative intent, just someone caught in the line of fire. However, if he was a spy for _Argo II_, Chase would see to it herself that he pay for his betrayal. _Backbiter_ hadn't been spotted in years, but its captain and crew were ruthless. If this was just a ploy for Chase to reveal her location so hastily by making a poor decision, Valdez would utilize it. But if Jackson was telling the truth, there were bigger things to worry about.

"So be it," Chase said, after she cleared her throat. "Bring him to the galley. See that he's fed."

"Sweet!" Jackson beamed. To Chase, he had such a peculiar vocabulary.

Some of the men parted the group for Jackson to leave, but Chase turned to her lieutenant and spoke in a hushed tone, "Make sure he behaves and doesn't stray. If he causes trouble, alert me at once. Our cargo is too precious for prying eyes."

"Aye, cap'n," he said with a nod.

Jackson was rolling up his sleeves as if he were going to plunge headfirst into the nearest mound of gruel. "So what's for dinner? Got anything blue? It's a long shot, I know, but worth a try."

"Uh, cap'n..." the lieutenant said, his voice wavering.

Chase then noticed what her second in command had spotted. A tattoo, faded from the sun, extended up the boy's forearm. It looked like a letter - no, a symbol. But it was as clear as the day. _A trident._

Jackson was immediately seized by her men, his shoulders were grasped so hard he yelled out in a mixture of pain and surprise. "Hey! What did I do?"

The captain sauntered toward him once more, "It would appear, son of Poseidon, that we are sworn enemies. My mother Athena and your father made sure of that."

She removed the glove from her right hand and revealed her own tattoo.

Jackson just looked at it with unimpressed confusion.

Displayed for the boy to see was the image of an owl, given to her many years ago by her mother, the same way this boy was given his. And their parents definitely did not get along.

"You just got yourself into some very deep waters, Mr Jackson." She couldn't help but smile. This rescue was proving to be quite more valuable than she thought. "Your father might pay for you in plenty, but your enemies might pay for you more."

Jackson gaped, open mouthed, then managed a weak grin. Simpering wasn't going to get him out of this one.

"What do you think, boys?" The captain raised her voice to address her crew. "Does he make for a handsome ransom?" The men cheered.

"Who are you people?" he asked.

"Pirates, Mr Jackson. And the best of them."

The men cheered again in agreement and dragged the boy away. Chase put her glove back on and smiled to herself. She needed to bring drifters aboard more often.


	2. Chapter 2

When Captain Chase finally entered the brig, after a day and night of Jackson's imprisonment, she found him seated and tied up securely to the wall with a rope at the wrists held above his head. She could see him watching her from the morning sunlight that illuminated his face from a crack in the wood.

The brig was always a place she didn't favor being. It smelled like rotting wood, mildew, and the body odor of men who seemed to have frolicked with wet hounds. She also didn't care for the one or two spiders she saw every now and again in the corners of the rooms. She did her best to stand straight.

Jackson on the other hand didn't seem angry, or betrayed, or vengeful which intrigued Chase. Usually being held against one's will stirs the monster within, but not him. At least not on the outside.

"How is our prisoner fairing?" Chase asked the gruff guard seated at the door. He was peeling a potato as if it were the most interesting thing in the room.

"Nothin' to report," the guard grumbled.

"Aw, Stan. C'mon now, I thought we had something special," Jackson mocked.

The guard snorted in disgust and spit a glob of snot on the floor.

Usually captains don't bother with the well-being of those they've captured, but this was different. She was intrigued by the son of the sea god. While they had him tied up, not once did he try to escape. Surely he must be able to summon a tidal wave, or a hurricane, or a whirlpool to throw them into the bowels of the deep, but he didn't.

The longer Chase had thought about it, the more curious Jackson's sudden appearance was. Though he was the first child of Poseidon she had ever met so she had nothing to compare to, something just didn't make sense and she wanted to investigate.

But apparently Jackson had some questions of his own on his mind. His voice was cloaked in disbelief, "So you're the captain of this thing?"

His insinuation annoyed her. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Because you're young," he corrected. "What makes you so special?"

"Age is just a number. Wisdom is respectable."

Jackson nodded his head in understanding and flexed his fingers in the cuffs; they must have gone numb hours ago. But apparently he was done with his questions.

Now it was the captain's turn. "You have power over the ocean, if I'm not mistaken, but you failed to use it to your advantage and fight back. Why is that?"

Jackson shifted his bottom on the slimy wood floor. "Maybe escaping isn't on my to-do list."

"What is your intention then?"

"Would you believe me if I told the truth?"

This made the captain's eyebrow rise in intrigue. She hadn't yet ruled him out as a spy for Captain Valdez so treading lightly was the best option. However, she wasn't going to deny someone to speak in case she was in the wrong.

"Speak," she ordered.

Jackson smirked. "I like it when you get all captain-y on me."

Chase ignored the comment and let him proceed.

"Maybe it's because I'm in the habit of making friends rather than enemies," he said. "Though I didn't expect to find a daughter of Athena on board. Guess I shouldn't be so surprised."

He laughed and his whole body seemed to brighten. He was incredibly handsome when he smiled and Chase found herself staring.

"So you lied," she said.

"No, I really did get clocked over the head, but I guess I wasn't as doomed as you might have thought. Maybe another hour and I would have been good to go. The ocean has a way of healing me after a bit."

She had one question though and as if reading her mind, he added, "I wish I had made up the fact that _Backbiter_ blew up my ship. That thing sure could pack a punch."

Chase's heart sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He still had no evidence for his story, but she felt like lead at the mention of the word.

"So what were you doing with a ship in the first place?" she asked, desperate to talk about anything else.

"Maybe if you be nice to me, I'll tell you."

Chase snickered. "And what would happen if I did?"

"I would join your crew."

Chase thought she misheard. "Excuse me?"

"I've had all day to think about it and I want to become a pirate."

This time it was Chase's turn to laugh.

"I'm serious," he said, and his expression doubled the fact.

"And what possible reason could you have?"

"Maybe because I'd be good at it."

This made her laugh harder.

Jackson spoke over her guffaws, "And maybe I can give you something worth your while if you let me."

This gave Chase pause. Maybe he was genuine. "Are you any good with a sword? A fighter?'

"Fair," he shrugged. Somehow she could tell he was being modest only for her sake.

"And what do I get in return?"

"Lots and lots of gold," he said with a devious grin.

"How?"

"Thousands of ships have wrecked in this region here, most carrying valuables. Without me, they'd be lost to you. With me though, I can make you the richest you've never even imagined. What I'm sure you have in cargo is only a small amount to what I can find."

"What proof do you have of these riches?"

"In my pocket there's a coin, if you want to take a look. I got it not too long before you found me. I was planning on bringing it to port and trading it. Unfortunately, the rest of it sank when Backbiter got to me first. Go ahead and see for yourself."

Neither moved.

"Either you can get it or you can untie me and I'll do it. Or Stan can, we're already best friends."

Stan scowled.

Chase stepped forward and reached into the boy's pocket. Sure enough, there was a coin inside. She withdrew her hand and inspected the element. It was pure gold and hand carved on the face was a sunken-eyed skull, on the reverse was an Aztec inscription. She had heard whispers of these kinds of coins before.

"From the Di Angelo fortune," he verified. "I found it in the wreck at the bottom of a reef."

She put an edge of the coin in her mouth and bit down. It seemed genuine. "And you can bring me more like this?" she asked.

"That's the idea."

"And what do you ask for in return?"

"Your trust. And fifty percent of all findings."

It was a tough business trusting a pirate, and only the foolish did so.

"Why don't you just do it yourself?" she asked. "Why do you want to be on my ship?"

"Two is better than one. The amount I could find would be insane alone, but with a team we could make ten times as much. I scout in the water, you pillage and do your thing up here. We split the bill even. Easy-peasy. You'd be richer than turning me in, that's for sure."

Chase was always a skeptical girl, probably since birth. She learned quickly that people would do anything to get what they wanted and step over anyone who got in their way, so one could say she learned from the best. If she could use the Jackson boy to get what she wanted, she would be the most powerful force this side of the Atlantic. If she was wrong, she would pay dearly.

She clamped her fingers over the coin and pocketed it.

Jackson frowned.

"Insurance," Chase said. "I will think about your proposal and come to you with my decision."

"Fine. You know where to find me."

Chase spun on her heel and marched toward the steps leading to the upper deck. The weight of the coin in her pocket felt good and it was still warm from being so close to Jackson. She had a lot to think about, but plenty of time to do it.

Or not. A clap of canon fire thudded through the hull of the ship, so low and rolling it pounded in her chest. No, not canons… _thunder_.

Valdez and his crew had found them once more.


	3. Chapter 3

The alarms threw the crew into chaos. All of her men hurried to their muster stations: climbing the mast to tend to the sails, gathering weapons and medical supplies for the impending fight, and ringing in the bell that pounded in Captain Chase's head. At Chase's command, they were preparing for what was to come.

She strode to the quarterdeck and joined her lieutenant and coxswain at the helm. The lieutenant handed her a spyglass and she peered through it.

Coming from the Southeast was an enormous gray storm cloud, reaching high like a claw raking through the blue sky. A wall of rain pounded into the water about two nautical miles away. Lightning flashed through the cloudcover and the thunder followed a few seconds after. There was no sign of a ship.

"It came out of no where," the coxswain gasped, his knuckles white on the wheel as he fought the increasingly turbulent waves. "No sign of it before."

"That is his technique," Chase said, lowering the telescope to inspect it with the naked eye.

"Are you sure it's Valdez and the _Argo II_, ma'am?" he asked.

"Weather patterns like this are unusual. Save for hurricanes, storms come from the West, Northwest - not East. This is no average storm. This is an attack."

"Aye, cap'n," the coxswain agreed.

"All available hands, douse those sails! We are lying ahull," the lieutenant barked. "All else, beat to quarters!"

"When the storm hits us in approximately seven minutes, they will attack us from starboard and try to board us. We will not let that happen," Chase said, slapping the spyglass shut on her palm. "We have done it before. We can do it again. They will not take my ship."

And in six minutes and fifty-nine seconds, the storm hit them like a hull hits coral. It struck the ship with such force and ferocity, the captain was surprised that it didn't come to a creaking halt. Chase was blinded by the heavy rain and howling wind. Her hat had been long lost and she struggled to stay afoot on the slippery deck. She squinted through the droplets that stung her cheeks for any sign of the enemy vessel.

It was so dark, it was almost as if it were night. She could hardly see anything at all, save for the white breech of the wake in the waters all around them.

The ship pitched and rolled as wave after wave pummeled them like they were as small as ants.

"Captain!" the lieutenant yelled over the gusts. "Trouble aloft!"

And there high above on the mainmast was a sail, unfurled from its ties and flapping in the wind like a lame gull. A pair of legs hung from the yard that held the sail firm to the mast, a lone midshipman was struggling to get the sail tethered and secure. His cries for help were carried away in the wind.

She didn't have time to call for another man to climb up there. A clap of thunder boomed overhead. But this time, it was followed by something that definitely wasn't just that. A streak of black shot from the right and the mainmast was flayed to pieces, wood chip flying everywhere. The captain only had time to duck just as the shards rained down upon her. She raised her head in time to see a bronze sail emerge from the mist. More cannonballs screamed overhead.

_Argo II_.

"All hands to their stations!" Chase shouted, jumping to her feet. "On my command!"

She heard the order echo throughout the ship, calling from one man to the next. She knew the cannons down below were at the ready.

"Ready? FIRE!" And one by one the canons burst.

There was a sudden creaking and a low, deep groan. Chase looked up to see the main mast swaying in the wind, the crewman still atop it. It wavered, unbalanced by the damage it sustained. And with a panicked thought, Chase realized what was going to happen. The mast broke off completely and fell.

The mast crashed down into the water. The ropes pulled taut and stopped the mast from being washed away entirely.

"Cut the ropes!" she called. But it was too late.

The ship bucked and tilted viciously.

The sail was acting like a sea anchor. It was going to sink them. "Cut them!" she repeated. More men appeared with hatchets and began chopping away at it.

"The canons are aimed too high, cap'n!" the lieutenant shouted. "They can't hit the_ Argo II_! We need to right her!"

"We must cut the mast!" she said. "If we don't, we'll lose the whole ship!"

"Captain!" one crewman who had stopped hacking called. He was pointing out to sea.

"Help!" The crewman up on the mast had survived the fall but was flailing to grab onto anything. He must have been just as blinded in the water as the rest of them. It looked as if he couldn't swim. "Help!"

"Grab the mast!" they shouted to him, but their voices were faint against the wind. The man managed to grasp hold, but he wasn't going to last long.

Chase was torn. Cut the mast and lose a man's life, or wait for him to grab hold to safety and risk everything. Logically, she had to command the lesser of two evils, but sometimes the weight of a person's life was too great. She hesitated a second too long because she heard a yowl of victory coming from the other ship.

She glanced over to see a figure, holding onto the shrouds with one arm and the other held high as if he were flying. Captain Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, Spaniard of the Sea. They locked eyes for a moment. His gaze was aflame, even through all of the water. The broad grin and howl like a wolf to the moon made Chase's blood boil.

He wanted her ship, her gold, her men. And she wasn't about to let him get it.

"Ready the cannons! Wait for my order!"

"But captain - !"

And then she bolted belowdecks.

She found Jackson, still tied up to the wall. The angle of the ship had made him stand, and he looked bewildered beyond control.

"What is Hades is going on?!" he screamed. The brig was quickly filling with water from holes in the hull. Chase waded through it and produced her knife with a scowl.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" he backed up against the wall, wide-eyed. "Don't get crazy!"

Instead, Chase threaded her blade through the knot and severed the tie. "Follow me."

They resurfaced onto the main deck and Jackson was whipped by the wind and drenched by the rain in seconds. He shielded his eyes from the gusts and gaped at the situation.

"We are under attack by Captain Valdez. We have a man overboard and if we're not quick, my ship is going to sink. If you help us, I'll accept your offer. If you betray me, I swear on my mother's name that you will see no end to my fury."

Jackson regarded her with knit eyebrows. She had no idea what he was thinking, and she then realized she had no idea what she was thinking either. Trusting a stranger with her ship and all of the souls on it was idiotic. But she had to try something.

All Jackson did was steel his jaw and nod. He spun and sprinted up the angle of the ship, climbed the rail and dove into the sea.

Chase turned to her men and barked, "Hold fast, lads! Get that man on board! Wait for my signal!"

But the situation was getting worse by the second. The longer the mast weighed the ship down, the farther the ship inclined.

"Cap'n! What have you done? That was our only bargaining chip!" the lieutenant shouted.

She didn't have an answer for him. Maybe she had gone mad. "It's our only chance!"

"Cutting that _mast_ is our only chance. One soul is not worth the rest!"

"I said, wait for my signal, lieutenant!" She was dead serious and her second in command knew it.

"Wait for the cap'n's orders!" he repeated to the rest of the crew, but she could tell he wasn't happy.

She would have Styx to pay for her foolishness if she was wrong. But if she was right...

The ship hit another wave and Chase slipped. She slid down the sloped deck and landed against the railing. Pain shot through her back, but she couldn't waste time over it. The _Argo II_ was circling them now. The bronze hull cut through the waves like it was slicing through butter.

She saw the captain again, he was on the quarterdeck, shouting orders and commands to his crew. To him it was probably a game, preying on the crippled ship, ripe for the taking. A blond figure landed next to him after cruising on the winds. Lightning was emanating from his fingertips and forking into the clouds above. She had heard of him, but never met - Jason Grace, son of the sky god Jupiter. He was controlling the storm to keep battering _The Architect_ relentlessly. It was an ingenious plan, really, to use such a powerful demigod - and Captain Chase only wished that she had thought of it first.

"Aim!" she heard Valdez shout. This was it. They were going down.

"Ready!" Valdez drew out the syllables as if he were savoring every single second.

Chase screamed out to her men to duck for cover, and then the canons exploded. The smell of gunpowder, like dirt and smoke, filled her nostrils-

But no cannonball hit.

Instead, a great, slimy tentacle stretched itself out from the depths of the water and blocked _The Architect_ from harm. Chase saw the rubbery flesh contract then stretch as it raised itself and wrapped around _Argo II_'s mizzenmast.

It used the ship to pull itself full up out of the water and Chase had a moment to believe what she was seeing. A beast emerged from the waters, as long as the ship it was climbing and just as thick. Its eight arms curled around the deck and encouraged the screams of _Argo II_'s crew as they tried in vain to cut into it with their cutlasses.

"It's -" the lieutenant started.

And the captain finished, "The Kraken."

The monster roared as the swords were merely pinpricks to its skin as it easily knocked men from the deck and into the vicious waves. The only eye that Chase could see must have been the size of a man, and it surveyed the enemy ship with fury. It had a beak that had teeth, sharp as blades, ready to swallow a sailor whole. And standing, with his hand clutching the dorsal fin of the giant creature was none other than the one she had locked away in her brig only a day ago.

Percy Jackson was riding a sea monster.

Captain Valdez and his crew were no match for the attack. The cannon blasts to get the beast off the ship were proving to be useless at best. The iron merely bounced off its skin and caused more damage than good.

The bronze buckled and warped under the beast's weight and the ship veered off course. Its tentacles ripped sails from their lines, ruined the rudder with a hit, broke the dragon figurehead in two, and threatened to rip the ship apart _Argo II_ was crippled, completely defenseless to the command of the waves and wind. It proved to be a good distraction.

Chase had enough time to help her men get the stranded sailor back on board and cut the line to the broken mast. _The Architect_ righted with a lurch just as the storm began to settle.

It appeared that the _Argo II_ had no choice but to abandon the storm to save their own lives and the skies cleared.

"Lower those sails!" Chase barked, pointing to the two remaining masts. "Bring us West!"

"Aye!" her crew acknowledged.

She looked back at the _Argo II_, hopefully the last time in a very long while, and saw that it was keeled over as if the ship had physically collapsed from exhaustion. A slimy, green tentacle had just vanished beneath the depths once more, leaving the ship to its own demise.

There was an unknown energy on _The Architect_ as they hobbled their way towards safety. Whispers and murmurs, not of mutiny but of amazement that swirled around Chase and she did her best to keep a straight face and do her duty at her post on the quarterdeck.

There was a large splash behind her. Jackson fell from a height and landed swiftly on his feet. He was wild-eyed, refreshed and overjoyed. He leaned over the railing and called down to something. Chase curiously peeked over to look.

"Hey, thanks for the lift, man. You did great out there," he said.

Below, the kraken - it's head poking out leaving a large eye into the open air - made bubbles as if it was pleased.

"I know, I know - next time we meet, I'll get you a big slice of cake, okay? Chocolate, right?"

The creature nodded its head and squealed like a seal. Chase could hardly believe anything like that could be considered "cute" but she could be proven wrong.

"Bye!" Jackson said with a wave and at that, the kraken disappeared into the deep.

Jackson barely had time to turn around when he was grabbed again and hoisted into the air. From the look of fear on his face, he probably thought he was going to be locked up again, but it was just the opposite. He was placed on the shoulders of the captain's men and they chanted, "Three cheers for Percy Jackson, rider of monsters!"

As they whooped in victory, Jackson's smile grew wide.

And Chase herself couldn't help but allow a small smile too.


End file.
